Improvement in music-blackboards



U B B R W N & H G C A R E Y Music Blackboards.

Patented Dec.. 16,1873.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OBADIAH B. BROVN ANI) HENRY G. CAREY, OFMALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

MPROVMENT IN MUSlC-ELACKBOARDS.

Spccilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,622, ('.aCdDecember 1G, 15713; application liled June 5,1873.

To all whom it muy concern:

Bc it known that We, OBADIAII B. BROWN and HENRY (lr. CAREY, of Malden,in the county of Middlesex and State ot' Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Improved Music-Board; and that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, snlticient to enable those skilledin the art to which our invention appertains to make and use' the same,reference being had/to the accompanying drawin g making part of thisspeciiication, and to the letters and figures marked thereon.

Our invention relates to a portable board to be used instead of theordinary blackboard in school, class, and lecturerooms, and is designedmore particularly for the purpose of teaching innsic, though it may bereadily adapted to the teaching of other sciences by changing the formot' the characters used in connection with the board itself. Ourinvention consists in, Erst, a board provided with horizontal groovesfor holding in place musical characters, a portion of the grooves be ingof the same color as the board, so as to be invisible at a shortdistance, and others being ot' the opposite color to represent thestaff; second, musical characters formed of Wood, made of tivo or morethicknesses, with the grain crossed to prevent warping, and providedWith pins or projections for engagement with the grooves in the boardthird, abox hinged to the board to serve as a receptacle for thecharacters, and to be turnedL up against it when packed for removal, orto prevent the loss of the characters; fourth, tapering cleats on therear side of the board for imparting a backward inclination to the boardwhen suspended against the Wall, whereby the characters are not liableto fall out of place; iifth,

aclef made of thin. Wood, and secured to the hoard by gluing.

rlhe board itselfl may be painted black, and the characters, with thegrooves representing the staff-lines, may be White; or the board itselfmay be painted white, and the characters and stafiline grooves black, asmay be preferred.

ln the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a front view, representing themusic-board sus pended against the Wall. Fig. 2 is a trans verse sectionthereof. Fig. o represents one otl the characters when made of metal,and Fig. 4 when made of Wood.

TheboardAhas t\vo series ci' grooves, b c, running its entire length,corresponding in width and depth with pins or lugs projecting from themusical characters, for the purpose of holding said characters in place.The grooves b, shown in dot-ted lilies in Fig. l, are painted the sainecolor as the board, so as to be invisible at a short distance 5 and thegrooves c, shown in full lines, are of the opposite color. to representthe lines oi' the statt. Leger-lines may be formed with the characters,or they may be formed of separate pieces, as may be preferred. rlhemusical characters, such as notes, rests, iigures, Sac., may be made ofmetal or of Wood. Then made of metal, as shown in Fig. 3, the note l) isformed with lugs e extending from tivo opposite sides, and turned downso as to engage With the grooves in the board. rlhe metal may be tin orany other suitable White metal, and may be left White, to be used on ablack board, or may be colored, so as to be used on a white board. W'henmade of Wood, as shown in Fig. 4, the note F is formed of tivo or morethicknesses, with the grain crossed to prevent warping, and has pins orstuds g projecting from the rear side for engagement with the grooves inthe board.

If desired, the lugs c may be attached to the metal characters bysoldering instead of being of the same piece. Instead of the pins g onthe Wooden characters, a continuous tongue may be formed on the rearside. In some cases a tongue may be preferable, as, for instance, Wherea leger-line is formedin the same piece with the character.

The grooves b c have their sides parallel with each other, andperpendicular to the face ofthe board. The lugs c and pins g are made tocorrespond as closely as possible with the dimensions of the grooves, soas to iit nicely therein. But should any inaccuracy exist, or should thelugs or pins tit loosely by reason ot' Wear or shrinkage of thematerial, the characters are prevented from falling out of place inconsequence oi' the backward inclination of the board A, whichinclination is effected by the tapering cleats on the rear side of theboard. rlhe cleat H has its rear side h1 per Q aille,

pendieular to its lower side hf, fo 'ming a right angle therewith, andits front side z, inclined` backward and upward, forming an acute anglewith the lower side .2. The front side h is at tached to the rear sideof the board A, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, from which it will readilybe seen that when the board is snspended against a vertical wall, orrests npon a horizontal surface, the front ot' the board is inclinedbackward sutiiciently to prevent the characters from falling ont ol'lplace.

The eletl maybe made of sheet metal, and permanently attached to theboard by pins or rivets; or it may be made of thin wood, and attached tothe board by gluing. The elet' G, shown in Fig. l, is made ot' wood, andis glued to the board. 0f course, when desired, the clefs can be madedetachable, like the other characters.

Near the lower dge of the board, and hingei to the face thereof, is abox or 'ase, L, which serves as a receptacle t'or the characters. lt maybe partitioned ott' into ditt'erent compartments for the dit't'erentcharacters, so as to render them easily accessible when required foruse. Being hing'ed to the board, the box or ease is readily turned upagainst the face, so as to be ont ot' the way when not in use, and,being provided with i'astenings, itprevents the loss or misplaeement ot'the charaeters when packed for removal. The box L, shown in the drawing,has its lower side in line with the lower edge ot' the b: ard, and assists in supporting it when resting upon a horizontal surface.

rEhe board maybe provided w th legs i'or i supporting' it, instead ot'having it snsp nded from nails, said legs being so arranged as to foldont of the way when not in use, or when packed for transpin'tation.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desiretolsecnre by Letters Patent, is-

l. The board A, provided with horizontal grooves l) c for holding inplace musical characters, the grooves I) being of the .'ame color as theboard, and the grooves c of a. different color to represent thestz'itl", substantially as shown and described.

2. Musical characters formed ot' wood in two or more thicknesses, withthe grain crossed to prevent warping', and provided with pins orprojections for engagement with the grmivesin the board, substantiallyas shown and described.

3. The bo); L, serving as a receptacle tor the elia actors, and hingedto the lower portion ot' the board A, so ae Ao be turned up and tastcned when not in use, substantially as shown and described.

'l. A musie-blaekboard provided with tapering cleats H for eit'eetingthe backward inelination ot' the board, snbstan ially as shown anddescribed.

5. A elet' made ot' thin wood and set-.nrel to the board b v gluing,substantially as shown and described.

The above speciteation of oar invention signed by us this lilith day ot'May, lo.

Yfitnesfws:

HENRY H. HYDE, -L F. SAntPsNr.

